Lenses as an atom-photon interface: A semiclassical model
Abstract
Strong interaction between the light field and an atom is often achieved with cavities. Recent experiments have used a different configuration: a propagating light field is strongly focused using a system of lenses, the atom being supposed to sit at the focal position. In reality, this last condition holds only up to some approximation; in particular, at any finite temperature, the atom position fluctuates. We present a formalism that describes the focalized field and the atom sitting at an arbitrary position. As a first application, we show that thermal fluctuations do account for the extinction data reported in M. K. Tey et al., Nature Physics 4, 924 (2008).
- Publication:
-
Optics Communications
- Pub Date:
- September 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.optcom.2011.05.065
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1012.0630
- Bibcode:
- 2011OptCo.284.4485T
- Keywords:
-
- Quantum Physics;
- Physics - Atomic Physics
- E-Print:
- Opt. Comm. 284 (2011), pp. 4485-4490